Patna: The Forum for Justice and Peace (FORUM) has strongly and unequivocally condemned the arrest of a 83-year old Jesuit priest Fr Stan Swamy by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) from his residence in Ranchi on Thursday evening and taken to an undisclosed destination in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence case. The case relates to an Elgar Parishad event of December 31, 2017.
In press note issued on Friday, the FORUM said Fr Stan was picked by NIA personnel on Thursday without any warrant. Fr Stan Swamy hails from Kerala.
“We, the members of the Forum for Justice and Peace (FORUM), strongly and unequivocally condemn the fact that Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest has been taken into custody by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) from his residence in Ranchi this evening and taken to an undisclosed destination. According to his colleagues, the NIA did not serve a warrant on Stan and that their behaviour was absolutely arrogant and rude.” the letter said.
Swamy was questioned by the NIA in July and August and summoned to the agency’s office in Mumbai this week. The NIA has claimed that the accused had links with CPI (Maoist).
In a statement, Swamy said he is not in a position to undertake the journey, given his age and the pandemic. He said he had told NIA that there was a Jharkhand government directive that those above 60 years of age may not appear in public and that he could be questioned over video-conference.
The FORUM letter further said, “This inhuman treatment to an 83 year old, frail and peace- loving citizen of India, who has given his life in the service of the Adivasis and other marginalised sections of society – speaks volumes of the deterioration of the democratic ethos in the country. We call upon the Government of India to ensure Stan’s safe, unconditional and immediate release; and to guarantee that after more than 15 hours of interrogation he is no longer victimised.”
“We also demand the immediate and unconditional release of all human rights defenders and other dissenters who have been illegally detained and incarcerated for the last several months. We call upon all citizens of India who cherish the rights and freedom enshrined in our Constitution to join us in condemning Stan’s illegal detention and to help ensure his immediate release!” the letter added.
The FORUM will observe Saturday, 10 October, as day of prayer and fast and wherever possible also in demonstration. We invite all citizens to join us in this protest, urged the FORUM core committee members comprising Dorothy Fernandes PBVM, Manju Kulapuram SCSC,
Anand Mathew IMS, Cedric Prakash SJ, Jacob Peenikaparambil CMI, Jessin SJC, Julie George SSpS, Lena SCN, Sujita SND, and Varghese Theckanath SG.